Surface mounted duct systems for enclosing conduit, electrical wiring and the like are known. A typical duct system includes a plurality of raceway runs, some of which are joined at various locations by junction enclosures. The precise configuration of each duct system, including the raceway sizes, lengths and locations, and the number and type of junction enclosures, is determined by site-specific wiring layout. Sometimes, one or more junction enclosures are used to introduce the conduit into one of the raceway runs of the duct system.
Enclosures serving as junctions and/or conduit adapters must cooperate with their corresponding raceways to completely conceal and protect the conduit running therethrough. At the same time, the enclosures and raceways must present an aesthetically pleasing appearance since the entire duct system is typically mounted on an exposed surface. To maintain an aesthetically pleasing appearance, duct systems have employed tight-fitting connections between raceways and junction enclosures. Moreover, junction enclosures of the prior art have a single, specific configuration, such as a left elbow, right elbow or T-joint.
Since the prior art enclosures are limited to a specific configuration, and for use with a raceway of a particular size, an installer is usually required to carry several different types of conduit adapters and/or junctions when installing the duct system. This complicates the installation procedure for the duct system.
Another drawback associated with prior art raceway junctions is that they are not capable of joining two runs of raceways mounted on different planes, such as where one is mounted on a ceiling while the other run is mounted on a wall.
Examples of prior art raceways and junctions include U.S. Pat. No. 917,328 to Lutz; U.S. Pat. No. 1,986,965 to Frank; U.S. Pat. No. 4,602,124 to Santucci; U.S. Pat. No. 4,649,230 to Nielsen; U.S. Pat. No. 4,942,271 to Corsi et al; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,769 to Corsi et al.
Thus, there exists a need to provide an improved conduit adapter assembly which can be used for a various type of connections, and has an aesthetically pleasing appearance. This invention addresses these needs in the art, along with other needs which will become apparent to those skilled in the art once given this disclosure.